Garden vegetables are precious, and regardless of the season, you will love them in every food. Garden vegetables are essential when preparing steak, and you need delicious sidelines with them. In every way, these are healthy, and one of the most beneficial vegetables is broccoli. They are available in a particular season, and you won’t find them later on.
Broccoli is a delicious snack everyone can enjoy, but what should you do when you want to have it for a whole year? Dehydration is the best way to keep eating your favorite veggie all year round. Let’s see how you can preserve it in the best possible way.
Do you have to blanch broccoli before dehydrating it?
Broccoli is a delicate vegetable that can’t stay fresh throughout a week, so it’s not possible to store it for long without witnessing mold. Even if you keep this vegetable in a freezer, it will be soft when you defrost it to add to any meal. If you want to preserve its color, taste, and crispiness like day one, the best thing to do is pre-prepare it for dehydration.
Blanching will stop the pre-enzymatic process, restore its color and stop the decomposition process for some time. Blanching broccoli is as essential as dehydrating it because without following pre-treatment, you won’t be able to keep it crisp for a long time. To blanch, heat water in a big pot and add salt. Add cut broccoli into the pot and let it boil for a few minutes. Drain the water and let it dry for a few minutes. Rinse it with cold water so it won’t get soft.
Does broccoli dehydrate well?
Broccoli is not a juicy vegetable, and you don’t have to get into several things to dehydrate it. This vegetable is dry itself, so there is no need to dry it. It’s essential to dry every drop of moisture from broccoli to stop contamination or to stop bacteria from ruining a vegetable. Dehydration is the only process that keeps you away from the harm of additives and chemicals in canned food.
It’s easy to dehydrate broccoli well because it’s not a juicy vegetable, and you can stay easy while following the whole process. After dehydration, if you want to add this vegetable to your meal, it’s better to steam for a few minutes. The steam will refresh your vegetable’s color and taste like a fresh one. Later you can add it to any meal without compromising on taste. Dehydration of broccoli is not a hectic process at all.
Can you dehydrate broccoli stems?
Broccoli stems are not something you should throw away because you think they are not that good in taste. People love to have broccoli with stems and often add it whole in meals. If you are also a fan of broccoli and love to consume it whole, the good news is you can dehydrate stems too. The process is the same, but you have to cut broccoli with stems without damaging it.
Or you can separate stems because they can consume more time in dehydrating. You can change them in powder form by dicing, or peeling them, and preheating the dehydrator at 150degrees. Slide stems into an appliance and lets them dehydrate for 8-10 hours. Later you can grind them to convert them into powder and store them in an airtight container. In this way, you can add it to different meals and will love the different tastes.
How do you dehydrate broccoli in an air fryer?
How cool it would be when you can have seasoned broccoli any time of the day to add to your meals regardless of weather conditions. There is no need to wait for the season anymore, and if you don’t have a dehydrator, you can also dry out this vegetable in an air fryer.
- Cut broccoli into small pieces, wash them, and leave them in the open air to dry. Drain excess water and put them all in a big bowl for seasoning. It will bring taste to the dehydrated broccoli when you add it to meals.
- Drizzle broccoli pieces with olive oil to keep them soft. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper to maintain taste. Leave them for a while and prepare the tray to spread vegetables.
- It would be good, if you prevent them from overlapping because dehydration will take time if the tray is full. Set temperature at 380F for 12-15 minutes, and during this period, you have to shake the tray. Cook them until they are crispy, and don’t forget to flip them to prevent overcooking.
- You can serve broccoli with different dressings like lemon wedges and more. It will not be possible to store them for years by dehydrating them in an air fryer, but you can still keep them for a few weeks. A dehydrator can remove every inch of water from the vegetable and make it long-lasting.
How long dehydrated dry broccoli last?
Dehydrated broccoli lasts for a year or two, depends on your dehydration method and how much moisture you have left inside the vegetable. The more you evaporate water from a vegetable, the more you can see the quality over time. Even after dehydration, it’s hard to consume broccoli in the same manner as it was on day one. It may show few changes in texture and color with time, but you can surely add it to your meals any time of the season.
Final Thoughts
Dehydrating broccoli is easy, and you don’t have to worry about buying it in the last season to preserve it for as long as possible. Through the dehydration process, you can keep ingredients in your kitchen as long as you want without fear of eating spoiled food.
The best time to buy broccoli is in winter and summer so you can have the fresh ones in your home. It’s not impossible to stock your pantry with your favorite greens this season to add to your meal. To have a whole nutritional value, it’s best to buy fresh broccoli.
